blogging tips {featuring & being featured}

One of my favorite things about blogging is featuring YOU!I remember when I got my first feature in May of last year!I was soooooooooooooo excited! (I still get excited when I get featured!! Yay!)During the first six months of this blog just about all my traffic came from link parties & being featured by YOU!I really appreciate all of YOU who featured me & gave my little blog a chance to grow!

I don’t really do many blogging tip post!I still feel like I am still sooooo new at this blogging thing!Buuut something was brought to my attention last week from a fellow blogger, so I thought I’d better share what I learned.

Up until last week I had no idea what a “hot link” was…but apparently I’d been “hot linking” in my feature posts. (If you were like me & don’t know what a “hot link” is it just meansyou copy & paste a picture into your blog post from another blog.)Sounds harmless enough…but when you do this the picture is still actually hosted on the blog you copied it from.

Most of the time this isn’t a problem,but if the blog you copied the picture from doesn’t have unlimited bandwidth or if their pictures are hosted by Photobucket or another photo servicethis can cause their blog to exceed it’s bandwidth limit, & then all the pictures on their blog turn to something like this:

Yikes! Noooot good!

So how do you feature other bloggers?

Simple. When you right click on the picture, instead of “copy image” click on “save image as…”.Then save the picture on your computer. (I made a file folder called “features” to save my feature pictures in.)Then upload them to your blog as you normally do.This way your blog is hosting the picture, & you won’t be “taking” bandwidth from another blog.

TIP: When you save the pictures (& ANY other pictures for your blog)rename them using descriptive words. This will help boost your SEO.

Annnd of course, always link back when you are featuring another bloggerand never post an entire tutorial. Use one or two pictures & link back to the source.………………………………………………….

Being featured is an important part of blogging!When you are first starting out this is the BEST way to get your name out there!

So how do you get featured???

1. Link up!!!!

When I first started blogging I linked up to as many link parties as I could each week.I really appreciate each of YOU who host link parties each week.

I’d link up to the big ones like TT& J, Someday Crafts & Tip Junkie.I’d also link up to smaller blogs. Sometimes I’d get more traffic from the smaller blogs than the larger ones. (Buuuuut if you do get featured by a huge blog…watch out here comes the traffic! Yay!)

2. Add blogs with {link parties} to your blog roll.When I found a link party I liked I’d add that blog to my blog roll right on the front of my blog. Each morning I’d check my blog, & see what parties were posted. This made it lots easier not to miss a party. Plus it’s important to link back to those blogs that host the parties.It’s a lot of work hosting parties! So be polite & always link back.

3. Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Take nice, clear, BIG pictures!You don’t have to have a fancy camera.This is the camera that I use to take pictures on my blog.It’s a simple Canon point & shoot camera….nothing fancy at all.(It does have a fancy camera strap though! Thank you Tracy from The Crafty Polkadot!)

For my blog pictures I take pictures by a window…with lots of natural light.Usually in the morning before lunch is the best time to take pictures at my house.I don’t use a flash. I get as close as I can to what I’m taking a picture of.Learn how your camera works & find the best spot to take your pictures.For me my kitchen table is the best spot in the house…lots of windows.That’s why you see my table in most of my craft post.

TIP: Taking pictures outside works great, too!

You don’t want fuzzy out of focus pictures, if you do your chances of being featured aren’t good.

4. Watermark your pictures!!!!

When you start linking up your projects to link parties make sure your pictures are watermarked with your blog name.

Chances are if your project is featured someone is going to pin it straight from the feature post instead of going back to your blog & pinning it from there. (Remember lots of “pinners’ aren’t bloggers & don’t realize the importance of linking back.)So make sure there is way to find you!

For my watermark I use my whole blog name with the .com. This makes it super easy for someone to type in gingersnapcrafts.com, & then my blog would pop right up.

So do you have in tips on featuring or being featured??

I’ll be back this afternoon with my {take a look at you} feature post!

This is a great post you lay it all out nice and clear....I'd like to place a link to this post on my blog party introduction on friday with your permission of course.....my e-mails on my profile...Thanks:) Deana @CountryMommaCooks

Thank you so much for the info on hot links. I had no idea and was always just copying and pasting because it was quicker for me than saving and uploading. I love your blog and try to link up each week. And I agree wit the others.. you are one of those "big blogs".

I found out about hotlinking the hard way... by having to pay for premium services at Photobucket one month if I wanted all my graphics available until my bandwidth usage reset in another week! Since then I don't use Photobucket for everything anymore - but the more bloggers who know about this, the better!! Thanks so much for sharing!

I had never heard of hot linking; thanks for the info! Do you know if it uses the bandwidth when you don't copy the picture, but copy the URL? Thanks for always giving shout outs on your blog! It's always an honor being featured :o)

I agree, you're in the blog "big time". It's so great to see you growing and flourishing! I had been hot linking my features, but use Pinterest embedding now instead. When I post a feature, above the picture I'll link something like "These Cute Mantel Blocks from Gingersnap Crafts", and link to you there. Below that, you'll see the picture of your craft that I pinned directly from your site. Make sense? Great encouragement for us who use a "little" camera :).

Thank you everyone for your comments! :) I had several ask if copying the url for the picture is the same as copying & pasting the picture, so thought I'd answer it here, too. I am not sure! So to be safe I'm going to be saving & uploading my feature pictures.

This is another great post! I am new to blogging and trying to build a following too so this was super helpful! Would also love if you could link this post on my site as I have a few other friends who are also trying to build a following. I know they'd find this a great read!

Actually, yes copying the image url is the same as copying the image, because by copying the image, you are essentially copying the url. That sounded redundant didn't it? The difference is just in whether you work with html (hence you copy the url) or if you "compose" your posts (hence you don't see the behind the scenes html and you copy paste the image). I really hope I didn't confuse anyone there, I'm not always the best at explaining :S Hope that helps!

Great info! A lot of good things to think about. I really need to figure out how to watermark my pics! Oh and thanks for mentioning the camera strap! BTW, how do you get the "pin it" button on each post? Did you have it added automatically or do you go in and do it each time?

Thanks for all the great advise, I'm new to blogging so need all the help I can get! I had never even heard of hot links so thats really useful to know. I'm loving you're blog by the way, so fresh and fun :)

Thank you so much stopping by Ginger Snap Crafts. I am so glad YOU are here. I so appreciate you being here & especially for your comments. They really make my day! :) If you have a question please leave it here, and I'll answer it in the comments. You can also email me at ginger at gingersnapcrafts dot com. For a quicker response feel free to message me on facebook. Hope to see you again soon! :)

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Meet Ginger

Hello & welcome to my blog. I am so glad YOU are here. I'm the wife to one amazing guy & a mom to 5 wild & crazy kiddos! I also LOVE to make things. It seems like I'm always in the middle of a project or two! My blog is a place were I share my latest craft & DIY projects, recipes, kid friendly crafts, party ideas & more. I hope to inspire YOU to create along with me! Enjoy & come back often! :)

copyright & disclosure

All pictures are copyrighted by Ginger Snap Crafts. If you would like to feature one or more of my ideas or projects please do, but please use only one pictures & link back to Ginger Snap Crafts. If you are inspired by one of my tutorials to create you own, please do! That is why I share them! If you blog about it please use your own pictures & a link back to me would be so appreciated! I'd also love an email or comment letting me know so I can check it out. Thank you! Also, all tutorials & projects are shared for informational purposes only. Be sure to use extreme care, follow all safety rules & use common sense when recreating any of my projects. Create at your own risk. :)